A Small Companion

Log 1

The partly cloudy sky stretches over the large town of Dentara, one of the many futuristic cities of Earth in the year 4720. There's been lots of improvements over the last tens of centuries. What used to be called a modern car is now an ancient relic, they were all torn apart and used as parts for other creations by the year 2500. The old modern home that was typically made of wood, plaster, concrete, and other materials was now made from solid metal. The metal lines all the walls and floors, and specific designing made it possible to have the perfect cooling and heating systems in place. And the current transportation systems are light-speed subway systems or train lines, along with speeder bikes, hoverboards, and hover-cars. How would one get inside the home? If it's a home with more than one level, how would they get up? And since their world has had robot companions since the year 3000, where are they stationed to charge? Each home is fitted with a small panel connected to the walls, which will raise them like an elevator would, yet without being as bulky and complicated. It moves based on a weight sensor and moves back down when the weight is removed. And robots charge in a space by the front doors, or outside the bedrooms on their specific charging platforms.

Dentara is one of many cities who got the first opportunities to try out new technology. The city is located next to the capital, which all new designs originate from. If there's an update to be released in the next year, one of the surrounding cities tries it out first, reporting back any problems and giving advice on how to improve it. Although this isn't really common since each update is nearly perfect in improving the AI systems. As for when there are new releases, the citizens are given the option to keep the old models, or swap them out for the new ones. Most make the transition to the newer parts, and only a few stick with what they grew up using.

Now, when it comes to AI, many think that if there's any uncertainty towards it, or any flaws, then there could be some danger with robots taking over the world. Lots of movies portray that, but honestly, that's something that would never happen in their world. The robots are kept small, only standing at half of a person's height at the tallest, and they only follow a small set of rules. Firstly, they can only follow the human that they have bonded with. This is done by fingerprint scanning, scanning of the eye, or by using a voice. The robots then remember their individual's voice, and follow orders only from that person. Secondly, the robots aren't connected to any central computer, or any sort of hub that links them all together, that is a precaution to avoid any casualties or unwanted control of another's robot. It also insures that the robots are of private usage. And the third rule they must all follow is to never cause harm or death to anyone. The rules are in place to make each individual's companion more personalized, and to act as a friend that no one else can command.

The streets of the city are quiet, or relatively quiet when compared to the past. Some citizens walk down the streets and others travel in electric trams or buses as they go to work. Most of the students walk to the school since they're not old enough to drive, and their parents leave for work a lot earlier than the school days begin. Students have to arrive at 8:00am and leave later at 5:00pm, with their time for lunch or a break at 12:00am. What do they do at school that takes up a whole 9 hours? From 8am to 10am, the students have their first 2 classes learning about the robot's operating systems and all the different functions they have, along with how they can assist them. The second class teaches them about how to create and run programs. From 10:30am to 1:00pm, the students work on constructing a robot of their own, and testing out their skills they learned in the previous classes. Their lunch break of course is in the middle of this class. And lastly in their day from 1:30pm to 5:00pm there's a mix of free time, homework, programming, building, and some entertainment time where they can play some video games or socialize.

Molly finishes her last important class of the day, her workshop class where she just finished building an outline or a shell for her robot. It doesn't look pretty, just some loose bits of plating and a small screen where the digital face would show. She wipes some metal shards from her gloves, taking them off and setting them on the desk. She takes off her safety mask and sets it aside, stretching her arms and legs before leaving the room. With so many hours left in her day she takes the start of it to finish all her homework and to make some adjustments to her lines of coding. She sits at the back of one of the classrooms, she can hear her friends talking outside, they intend on spending the rest of the school day socializing and saving the homework for later.

"It's better to get it done early" Molly says to herself, her hand moving on its own as her pen fills out the pages with words and numbers.

"Well you know Molly some of us don't like homework the way you do. Some think it's a waste of time, or it's just not as important. It does take away time for friendships you know" says the girl at her side, which happens to be her best friend since they were 6 years old.

"I never said I liked doing homework Sebrina, I hate it just as much as the rest of you" Molly says.

"Then how come you always shut yourself in here every day, or in your room to get it done so fast? Why not wait and do it later?" she asks.

"To start, I do it first to get it over with before I forget. And secondly, just because I fill it out fast doesn't mean I enjoy it. My brain just works quicker, I can't help it" Molly tells her.

"Well when you're done we can join the others in the computer lab, they're playing some rounds of Valorant if you're up for it" Sebrina says, looking down at her papers. "Only a few questions left. You know what Molly, leave it for tomorrow and come have some fun."

"But I-" Molly speaks up, Sebrina taking her notebooks and sheets and putting them into her bag before handing it to her.

Sebrina lifts her out of her seat and pushes her out of the room and down the hall to the computer labs. The wide door opens and the hall leads down the middle, two large rooms on either side with several rows of seats and monitors. Sebrina leads Molly through a door on the right and over to one of the rows. Spread out from left to right are some of their friends; Victor, Sarah, Denise, and Hector. They glance up and greet the two as they enter, inviting them to join at the end of the row. Molly sits on the end with Sebrina at her left, they start up the computers and enjoy playing a variety of video games for the rest of the school day, with Molly finishing the last bit of homework before she goes home.

"Thanks for walking home with me Molly, see you tomorrow!" Sebrina says as she runs off past her.

"See you tomorrow!" she replies before entering her home. "Mom I'm home!"

"Hi honey, how was your day?" she asks.

"It was fine, is sis home yet?" Molly asks in return.

"She'll be home in about a half hour, she stayed back with her friends for a bit longer today than she usually does. Oh by the way there was a package for you that arrived at noon, I left it in your room" her mom says before returning to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

"Ooookay.." Molly says, a little confused since she didn't order anything or was expecting anything to arrive for her.

She steps onto the small platform which raises her up to the rest of the home, she steps out into the hallway and enters the room on the left. She sets her bag down by the window and turns around, and she sees a small white box resting on her bed. Molly looks at the box and sees a printed label on the top, which reads "Product of the Myazaki Advanced Intelligence Corporation".

"Hey, mom! Are you sure this is for me?" Molly asks as she yells down to her, she shakes her head and opens the box.

Inside is a small robot with white plating. Its shape is a little spherical on the lower end as she picks it up, a large rotating wheel resting in the underside. The sides of the bot are straight and flat, and the top side curves inward with a flat square plate in the middle. Near the front of the bot is a small screen at a 45 degree angle, which faces upwards to her. All the wiring is covered by the plates, with small segments of black metal separating the different plates and hatches.

Molly places the bot down on her bed and looks back inside the box, she sees a pad under where it was resting, the label "Charging Dock" imprinted on the front. She takes it out and sets it next to the bot before placing the box on the floor. Taped to the back of the bot is an instruction manual, which she places to the side for later. Molly hears the front door begin to open, it unlocks and slides downwards into the floor. Normally when the doors open in the home they open as such, or they slide to the left or right or raise up into the ceiling like a garage door. The front door then raises and locks in place after her sister steps inside.